Monday Moments- Identified

Want to say congrats to the many couples that are expecting at Divine Unity Community Church, and all of those that just had children in the past month. DUCC is indeed reproducing! There is something in the water. We continue to celebrate & cherish life.

Identified Conference…This weekend Cherelle had her first IronDresses Identified Women’s Conference. The only thing I can say is wow! I did sneak into the opening session and the closing event that evening (It was my wife’s conference, I had to support). Cherelle and her team did an excellent job with EVERYTHING. There were women from all across VA that attended. From the testimonies I have heard, this conference was one for the ages. I believe many women were deeply impacted!Dream come true… While many people enjoyed the conference, what I enjoyed the most was seeing my wife walk in purpose and the fulfillment of her dreams. Something that started off as a few thoughts about femininity on paper turned into a book, which turned into a conference (and many more to come). As she opened up the conference, I sat in the back listening to her preach, and I was overwhelmed with joy! It was amazing to see her embody what IronDresses is, and will be. One the most fulfilling things this weekend was that the world had a chance to see who my wife is! I am too proud of her! I believe this weekend also gave insight to many people as to who Cherelle & Chris is as a team. Proud of you my love (Cherelle)… words can’t capture what I feel! #number1fan

Family… Because of the conference both Cherelle & I had a lot of family that came into town. It was refreshing to see those that came into town, and it was good for my family to get this experience this weekend. It was reminder of how much our testimony and lives can witness and encourage those that are related to us.

Do it for the Vine… This week we closed out Take the City with John 15:1-8 (Do it for the Vine). We covered this basic thought: “The ultimate goal of the Christian life is to reproduce.” The goal of being connected to Christ is to produce fruit. Fruit gives evidence to what we are connected to, therefore our character, lifestyle, passions, and desires should be evidence that we are connected to Christ! Jesus in John 15 makes this point to his disciples that there are different aspects of fruit bearing: 1)Moving- sin can cause us to not bear fruit. The vinedresser puts us in a better position to reproduce when sin is removed from our lives.2) Pruning– removing uneeded things from our life that cause distraction, or competes with our intimacy with God that we may bear MORE FRUIT! 3) Abiding- Learning to sink deeper into our relationship with Christ that we may bear MUCH FRUIT!

I believe that we learn how to MOVE, PRUNE, and ABIDE that we will produce more fruit for the Kingdom of God, and this city will be changed!

Unplugged… Last week I intentionally unplugged from using the internet at home, and electronic devices outside of phone calls, and things at work. It was REFRESHING, and deepening. Praying, journaling, and sermon prepping with no music & internet served as very interesting experience. I believe this is a PRUNING season for me, and the Lord is preparing me to bear MORE FRUIT. Therefore I embrace it, and unplugged week 3 continues. Check out the picture of my sermon notes from Sunday.